St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Tuesday November 8th 2022

Letter from the Acting Principal

Last week was an extremely exciting one for our school community.  We were contacted by both the Liberal (Gareth Ward with Nick Wakeling) and Labor (Daniela DeMartino) candidates for our area and both of them have made an election promise to contribute $3,000,000 towards our Stage 2 building project.  This means that upon receiving these funds we will be able to commence the tendering process for our new building.  

An enormous amount of work has already been done to design a new learning space that will accommodate 6 classrooms, a large collaborative learning space, teacher’s resource area, break-out and nook seating, storage, toilets and a covered outdoor learning space. The old classroom building that is near the oval will be demolished and become the site for this upcoming building project.  

Please see below for more details:

The Age - October 5th 2022

Nick Wakeling MP Ferntree Gully VIC

Prep Information Night

We look forward to welcoming all our new and existing families to our Prep Information Night for 2023 tomorrow night at 7:00pm in the school hall.

Education Board Nominations

SAC Meeting tonight cancelled (new date TBC)

Nominations are sought for the positions on the Education Board for 2023.

In order to qualify for nomination, a person must be a parent of a student attending St John the Baptist Primary School and be nominated by two other members of the school community and consent to nomination on the approved form.

Nomination Form

Download

School Closure Day

Just a reminder that there will be no school for the children on the following day next week:

Tuesday 15th November : Staff Professional Development Day/Planning for 2023

We are looking forward to welcoming our new staff who will be joining us on this day.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Ellie (5/6) who achieved an incredible result at the Athletics State Championships last Wednesday.  She finished 5th with a jump of 3.76m.

Each school in our region started with two girls.  We have 200 schools in our region. There are eight regions in the state of Victoria.

An outstanding achievement Ellie. Well done!

Help Needed

Some of you may not have been able to attend our last working bee but are still willing to help us out.  We have two large portable white boards that cannot be recycled and therefore our only option is to take them to the tip.  If you have a large trailer/van and could help us out by doing a tip run it would be greatly appreciated. 

Please contact me via phone/email if you may be able to assist.

Carpark

Our carpark has the facility for two options:

Drop off and pick up zone

Parking in designated parking spaces and walking to drop off and collect your children

Both of these are at the lower carpark.

We are very fortunate as a school to have onsite parking.  It is important for the safety of the children that we follow the correct procedures.  If the drop off/ pick up zone is full you will need to park in the designated spots to ensure the easy flow of traffic.  Alternatively if all the parking bays are full you will need to show patience as cars from the drop off/ pick up exit the carpark.  

Our top carpark is to only be used when you are dropping off or picking up outside of our normal arrival and departure times.

Students must always be walked to and from cars if using this carpark.

Remembrance Day Paraliturgy

There will be a whole school prayer service on Friday 11th November for Remembrance Day at 10:20am under the flagpole.  This service will be led by our Year 6 School Leaders.  All families are welcome to attend.

Remembrance Day Poppy Appeal 2022

Students/families are able to purchase items from the office in support of the RSL Poppy Appeal.

Badges - $1.00, $2.00 & $5.00

Wrist Bands - $3.00

Keys Chain - $4.00

Bag Tags - $4.00

Pens - $5.00

Booklists for Years 3-6 2023

Below is the link to complete this year's Booklists for students in Years 3 -6, 2023.  Home Delivery or Click & Collect is available.

Lilydale Books - Booklists Years 3-6

Prep-paid Levies for 2023

Levy Document

Download

Swimming Carnival

Our students had a wonderful time competing in our Swimming Carnival on Tuesday 25th October. It was great to see everyone participating with enthusiasm and good sportsmanship. Congratulations everyone! Thanks to all the parents who helped out on the day.

Parents & Friends of St John the Baptist

Dad's and Kid's Camping

Thank you to all the dads and kids who came to Gilwell Park on the weekend.  A great turn out with beautiful weather, some yummy food and some fun bush activities.  We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and made some new friends and had some new experiences.

We are so blessed to be part of this wonderful school community and the P&F are so proud and privileged to facilitate these experiences.

A special shout out to Matt Cann, Chris Conway, Pete Dow, Chamal Aponso, Dave Ambler, Chris Buttery who were the catering/ clean up crew.

Already looking forward to next year!

Mango Fundraiser

Just waiting for an update once all the logistics are sorted but still aiming for week of the 28th November.

Annual General Meeting

Our final meeting for the year is on Monday 21st of November at 7pm in the staff room.  Please come along, all welcome, to hear our review of the year. How successful our events were, our fundraising efforts, the resources received by the school, the community connections and how our children are benefiting from the efforts of the P&F.  We will be planning next year and all suggestions and feedback will be welcomed.  We are looking for new members to come along and be part of the committee, bring your special skills, talents, enthusiasm, connections along to the meeting.  We need help with creative tasks like flyers, notices and social media posts, administration tasks like spreadsheets and emails, as well as event planning and management.  You can come on board for one event or stay all year!  Many hands as they say.  

Student Awards

Prep M

Keira M - for showing kindness to her peers during the AFL Clinic and helping them to be included in the game. You are a star, Keira!

William B - for making lots of new friends at our school and always trying your best during reading and writing. You are a star, William!

Albie J - for always trying his best in writing and not giving up when it seems too hard. Great work, Albie!

Adrianna R - for always trying her best and giving everything a go. Especially during reading, writing and maths. You are a star, Adrianna!

Prep S

Pippy R - for always striving to achieve your best work and her continued efforts in reading! You are a star, Pippy!

Briar H - for all the wonderful efforts she makes in her work and for always being a kind member of the class. You are a star, Briar!

Jack D - for striving to achieve your best work and for being a kind friend to his peers on the playground. You are a star, Jack!

Year 1/2BC

Charlie K - for writing some fabulous fables, including morals in your fables and publishing them on the computer. Keep up the great writing!

Ethan N - for having a go at writing and writing the sounds he hears when sounding out the words. Keep it up, Ethan! We are so proud of you!

Benji W - for creating your own fable and including a moral in your fable. Keep up the wonderful story writing, Benji! We are so proud of you!

Year 1/2BE

Bryce S - for making excellent progress in maths to solve equations using a variety of strategies.  Keep up the great work!

Xavier M - for making excellent progress in reading to sound out words and read sight words confidently. Keep up the great work!

Hudson T - for making excellent progress in maths to solve equations and for your enthusiasm in these sessions. Keep up the great work!

Cohen D - for making excellent progress in writing to order your story ideas and add descriptive detail.  Keep up the great work!

Elliot B - for making excellent progress in Maths to solve equations using a variety of strategies.  Keep up the great work!

Year 1/2BR

Finn te B - for your wonderful effort to take on feedback in regards to your learning and applying it to your next lesson - I love watching you work hard to keep your handwriting neat in each writing lesson. Keep up the great work.

Luca I - for your increasing ability to stay focused and on task during each lesson. You have worked so hard on this skill throughout the year and each day I grow more and more proud of your hard work. Well done Luca!

Lacey H - for your continuous kindness and inclusion to all classmates in 1/2BR. I can always count on you to work respectfully and cooperatively with others. This shows excellent leadership qualities. We are lucky to have you as a team member of 1/2BR!

Chelsea B - for your excellent work with your reading this year - you have come so far with your reading and I am really proud of all your progress, your hard work and perseverance has really paid off. Well done!

Maggie R - for the wonderful growth in your learning this year! You have come so far with both your reading and writing and I am so proud of you and all your hard work. I love seeing your confidence grow each day. Well done Maggie!

Year 3/4KC

Zara D - for great learning in our Financial Maths unit, due to perseverance and a positive attitude.

Millie B - for going beyond the classroom in learning about the geography of Nepal. What an inspiration to others!

Emily St - for being resilient and very forgiving to others, and for trying her best to solve problems in Maths.

Teague D - for always looking for the best in others and trying hard to improve his Maths skills. You are a star, Teague!

Year 3/4SM

Ember H - for demonstrating an artistic flair in presenting work and for her growing enthusiasm for creative writing.  Congratulations

Isla S - for her perseverance when working through challenging tasks and demonstrating a positive attitude to new learning. You are amazing! Congratulations.

Isaac W - for showing enthusiasm and creative imagination in his writing. Congratulations, you are so talented!

Year 5/6FJ

Gabi H - for being so gracious and humble whilst receiving such accolations from numerous peers and teachers after watching the recording for her stunning performance in our school production Star Warts. You are a true performer Gabi, never give up performing.

Lorelei C - for working with more care and attention to details this term, especially in the area of writing. Keep focusing on the goal ahead and you can achieve anything Lorelei.

Mia P - for being such a contributor to class discussions and sharing your wealth of knowledge around trade and importing and exporting goods with Australia. Your project is coming along extremely well. Keep working hard Mia.

Year 5/6RJ

Ethan O - for being an excellent thinker during Maths sessions, showing great persistence when solving problems and by giving great explanations to these Maths problems. Well done Ethan.

Aala D - for showing more persistence and effort with all of your learning. Demonstrating excellent sportsmanship at tennis during Summer Sports.

Ruby L - for being more focussed recently, showing persistence and effort with all of your learning. Well done Ruby.

Skyla T - for being more focussed coming into Term 4, showing greater persistence and effort with your learning. Well done Skyla.

Ferntree Gully Library Invitation

The staff at Ferntree Gully Library are delighted to invite St John's families and children to the Library for a Christmas Story Celebration which will be held on Tuesday December 6th 2022.

It is hoped that the children from St John's will perform Christmas songs at this event. St John's School Choir has performed at this event for over twenty years.

This year, all children from Years Prep to Year 6 are invited to join our 2022 Library Choir.

Mrs Costa will hold singing practice every Wednesday at first recess to prepare the Christmas songs for the Library celebration.

CHRISTMAS FAMILY STORY TIME AND SINGING 2022

DATE:        Tuesday December 6th 2022

PLACE:       Ferntree Gully Library

TIME:          6.30pm until 7.30pm

Running Club Change

Running Club is back for Term 4 and it has been wonderful to see students enjoying themselves. Moving forward, Running Club will be completed at school with students supervised as they run laps of the oval. 

All students are invited to attend Running Club; however, junior students (P - 2) must be accompanied by a parent. All students (P - 6) must bring a completed permission slip (see the attached document) before being allowed to attend any sessions (if you have previously returned a permission slip, there is no need to complete another one). Running Club will set out from the office at 8am, please don't forget to sign in using the book inside the office.

In the case of inclement weather, fitness work and exercises will be held in the school hall.

Parents are welcome to attend if they wish to enjoy a morning walk/run. 

If you have any questions about Running Club please contact Tess Farry. 

Canteen News

Canteen Helpers Roster


Wednesday November 9th

Alan Ong

Friday November 11th 

Jodie Flynn

Rachael Wool

Fleur Dow


Wednesday November 16th 

Claire Lewis

Friday November 18th 

Carrie Canton

Jacinta O'Dowd

Cassandra Croning


Canteen Price List 2022

Download

Uniform Shop News

Community Notices

St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully